An Opportunity For Resorts World Sentosa?
March 22, 2009 – 8:08 am | by Daryl Tay
Whale Sharks
Last week I got a Facebook message to sign an online petition against bringing in whale sharks as part of the Marine Life Park at the integrated resort by Resorts World Sentosa. For non-Singaporeans, Sentosa is an entertainment island that is a huge tourist attraction. Apparently whale sharks just don’t live well in captivity, and people are showing concern by signing this petition which apparently has over 4,000 people to date.
By the end of the week, an email reply was sent out (understandably it was a mass email because they were replying to more than 3,000 people) stating that they are listening to the concerns, but the whale sharks were part of the initial proposal years ago, and they are “bound to deliver the integrity of the bid”, which I guess is understandable. On top of that, they referred everyone in the mailing list to their website (which has a full copy of the letter) to keep up to date with developments with the whale sharks.
I personally think this is a pretty good move, but is it enough? Given that the petition was executed online, and that at least some of us got involved via Facebook, it suggests that the audience involved is at the very least, internet-savvy. While Resorts World Sentosa has chosen the right medium to engage (email and a website), I do wonder if other alternatives could enhance this.
If they have to bring in the whale sharks because of the proposal, the next best thing would be to continually assure the public that they are well looked after, right? So how about:
A blog with regular updates on steps taken to give first priority to the whale sharks’ welfare
A YouTube channel to visually show how they are taken of, with interviews with different people (the care givers, audiences, management etc) to talk about the different ways in which they are taking care of the whale sharks
A Facebook group to interact with concerned people and serve as a point to upload pictures, links etc and keep everyone informed
Basically, do everything possible to create a “Whale Shark Welfare” media channel that would be impossible to miss and that could really help their public image. Will they? Why wouldn’t they?
I think it’d work. What about you?
Tags: blog, facebook message, integrated resort, marine life park, resorts world sentosa, whale shark petition, whale shark welfare, whale sharks captivity, youtube
6 Responses to “An Opportunity For Resorts World Sentosa?”
By ssumin on Mar 24, 2009 | Reply
Wonder what the consequences of not strictly abiding their bid would be. Do believe captivity would be detrimental to the whale shark’s health, so if there’s nothing else at stake beyond integrity of a bid, might make sense to reconsider. Properly explained, that could be good for corporate image too.
By Daryl Tay on Mar 24, 2009 | Reply
@ssumin: Honestly no idea. But either way I guess they would have a LOT of communicating to do with the public. But yes, you’re right. Either way it’s an opportunity to demonstrate being socially and ethically responsible!
By Jessica on May 12, 2009 | Reply
Understand the business side of walking a careful PR line in their response. And your time in proposing a “keep us updated on their welfare” route. However, such a compromise would defeat the initial reasons for protesting captivity of whale sharks….that they are not meant to be in captivity.
As one of the signees, I too received the mass email from the Corporate Social Welfare dept of the Sentosa Resort with the reply you cited.
Reading their letter carefully, I suggest we need to more widely publicise this petition to non-Singapore citizens and non-Singapore residents. In other words, we need TOURISTS to say to the Ministry of National Development that they will not partake in this whale shark plan and have no intention of visiting any aquarium with whale sharks and that this failure to drop the proposed exhibition (winning bid or not) will seriously give them pause in considering Singapore as their next holiday destination.
That would hit where the Singapore govt and the Resort would sit up and take notice – the potential purse.
By Daryl Tay on May 12, 2009 | Reply
@Jessica: Thanks for commenting! Yup that would make sense. To me, of course the best situation would be if the whale sharks were not in captivity at all. However, given that the likelihood of that happening seems high, I would like the next best thing, which is to really show everyone that they are being taken care of properly and responsibly, and I think whichever path is taken, more can be done to educate the public about the pros of both.